Matters - Re-Opening and Rejecting

This page covers how administrators can limit the ability to reject matters, limit the ability to re-open closed cases and rejected matters, and customize the process for re-opening closed cases.

User Role Permissions

Three permissions affect re-opening and rejecting. User roles are granted these permissions by default, except for the Pro Bono Restricted Access system role.

Re-Open Closed Cases - removing this permission removes the static "Re-open Case" link on closed cases. If a site is using a dynamic re-open process (see below), permission is controlled by that process.
Re-Open Rejected Matters - removing this permission removes the "Re-Open Prescreen" and "Re-Open Intake" links on matters that were rejected at the prescreen and intake stage, respectively.
Reject Closed Cases - removing this permission removes the legacy "Data Error" sidebar element on cases that includes a "Reject case" link. For older sites still using this element, also see "Preventing Open or Closed Cases from Being Rejected" below.

Customizing the Re-Open Process and Form

Newer installations of LegalServer will already have a dynamic re-open process and form, which can be edited using the standard tools in Admin > Processes, Forms, and Profiles. If that's your site, you can ignore the rest of this page, except for "Note on Rejected Prescreens and Intakes" below.

Older installations of LegalServer may still be using the built-in re-open process and form. This section covers creating a dynamic process and form.

Administrators often want to customize the re-open form to provide instructions on whether cases should be re-opened and to have the ability to change the default for the date opened so that it stays the same instead of defaulting to the current date.

There are 3 steps to providing a customized form:

Create the dynamic form
Create the dynamic process that calls the form and creates the link
Set the Re-Open process in Admin / Process Settings.

Create a Dynamic Re-Open Form

Administrators can create a dynamic auxiliary form in Admin / Processes, Forms, and Profiles. The only required element for the form is the "Re-open Case" block. However a typical form will have:

Header (optional)
Instruction (optional)
Restrict Case Re-Open block (optional)
Re-open Case block
The Header is often simply "Re-Open Case". The Instruction element often contains agency rules about re-opening cases.

The optional Restrict Case Re-Open block has one configuration option, Earliest Closing Date. If a case has a date closed earlier than the configured date, it cannot be re-opened.

The Re-open Case block has a configuration option called "Default Date Opened to Today", which is checked by default.

If the Date Opened displayed on the form should instead remain at the current date opened, uncheck this option.

Administrators can also modify the email that users can choose to send when a case is re-opened.

Create a Dynamic Process

The dynamic auxiliary process will display the link on cases. A typical process will be set as follows:

Name - "Re-Open Case"
Link Category - None
Case Dispositions to Show - Closed

After the process is created, administrators may want to edit the process and change the default permissions. As with other processes, each user role can be given or denied access to the link.

The re-open case link will appear via the legacy "Closing Options" Side/Action element. If the main profile is not using that element, the new re-open process will need to be added to another element, typically a "Custom Link Box".

Set the Re-Open Process

To override the static, built-in re-open process and use the new dynamic process, go to Admin / Process Settings. One of the settings is "Re-open Process". Select the new dynamic process from the list, then click Continue to save the new setting.

Re-Open date limitations from Guided Navigation

The Restrict Case Re-Open block only restricts on the case opening from a set point in time. If you want to create a different method that forces end users to remind Site Admins to update the setting after a new year starts, you can use guided navigation. For an example that allows re-opening from 2023 cases, but not 2022 cases, and then prevents reopening 2024 consider this setup:

This includes:

A Header identifying this is a Re-Open Process
An Instruction informing staff that cases from before 2023 cannot be reopened.
A custom field tracking reopened cases that defaults to true.
The Re-Open Case block with appropriate limits on it.
An Instruction effective on January 1 warning staff that they can't go forward since the year has now changed.

Note on Rejected Prescreens and Intakes

Administrators may notice that the "Re-Open Prescreen" and "Re-Open Intake" links on matters rejected at those stages will point to the new dynamic process. However, the system will automatically override the dynamic process and re-open those matters to the correct disposition, whether prescreen or incomplete intake.

Preventing Open or Closed Cases from Being Rejected

Newer, or updated, sites control a dynamic "Reject Case" process by editing the process (Admin > Processes, Forms, and Profiles) and setting Dispositions to Show and allowing or denying the process for each user role.

Older sites may be using the legacy "Data Error" side bar element. As noted above, there is a user role permission called "Reject Closed Cases" that allows administrators to grant or deny users the ability to see that element on closed cases.

You can also prevent all users from rejecting open or closed cases by removing the Data Error sidebar element completely if it is enabled. On the Admin> Processes, Forms, and Profiles page, edit the Main Profile and disable the "Side: Data Error" element in the Side/Action Elements section.